PrimoPDF is a free, small application that comes as a simple, effortless solution to easily convert any printable document into a PDF file. While this particular program doesn’t come with extras, it provides everything one could require for the moderate PDF conversion need.
Installation & Requirements
The install process of PrimoPDF is close to perfection, the only downside being the fact that it contains adware. The program attempts to make you install Nitro PDF Reader, another program which is not required by PrimoPDF to work so be sure to opt out if you don’t want it. The next setup window provides you the option to register your copy of the program to receive product update e-mail notifications. This is basically all of the manual setup a user would have to perform since the actual install process is done in just a couple of seconds.
Concerning system requirements, PrimoPDF works on Windows XP/Vista/7 and requires you to have .NET Framework 2.0 installed on your computer.
Interface
The program’s GUI is clean and catchy, and it actually contains all the settings that you can customize the PDF conversion process with. First of all, there are four different presets: Screen – generates smallest output files, optimized for screen viewing; eBook – resulted PDF documents are medium files with compressed images, suitable for home and office; Print – files of higher quality, optimized for most home and office printers; Prepress – the setting that produces the highest quality output files, suitable for printing to commercial quality printers. Last but not least, there is the Custom category that allows you to manually tweak the quality of your converted PDF documents.
Below the main presets there are also options to change the document’s properties, set the PDF documents security settings such as password protection and permissions as well as Save As and Post Process actions.
The Options menu contains additional settings for customizing PrimoPDF’s program updates, PDF creation, notifications and troubleshooting. In the top-right corner of the interface you can access PrimoPDF’s About page which displays program related info such as the currently installed version and links for the official website, forum, online user guide and enterprise licensing.
Converting a document to a PDF file can be done in two ways. First of all, you should know that PrimoPDF is installed on your system as a virtual printer so you can convert an opened document by selecting its Print option and choosing PrimoPDF as the printer. The second solution is even easier: all you have to do is simply drag and drop your document onto PrimoPDF’s desktop icon.
Pros
– Small program with a clean and easy to understand interface.
– Provides two simple ways of converting documents to PDF files: one from any open document’s Print menu and another one by dragging and dropping the document onto PrimoPDF’s desktop icon.
– Provides four different conversion presets and the option to create a custom one.
– Very fast conversion process.
Cons
– Adware is present during the install process and within the program’s interface.
– Converted images experience significant loss of quality.
Alternatives
The software industry of PDF converters provides us with more than enough alternatives, especially since converting documents to PDF files has become a common task. While PrimoPDF is a reliable and simple to use tool, more demanding users might be tempted to look for similar free applications such as PDFCreator and CutePDF Writer.
Conclusion
PrimoPDF provides an essential set of features, but also a simple interface that facilitates an easy, fast and hassle-free experience, which makes it one of the best free tools in its niche for casual document to PDF conversion.
